Updates on War Horse – Beyond the West End

Tuesday, 19th Apr 2011

Broadway Production Opens with Movie Version Still on the Horizon

War Horse remains one of the most acclaimed productions running in the West End, having originally opened its doors at The National Theatre before its transfer to the New London theatre, and this is reflected by its current booking period taking it to February 2012.

But what about the versions of the story outside of the capital? There has been plenty of attention given to the movie version of the story that will be appearing on cinema screens at the end of the year, but there’s also the issue of the Broadway version of play, which opened last week at the Lincoln Center.

“War Horse” is based on the 1982 novel by Michael Morpurgo and first made its way to a London theatre when it opened at the National back in 2007. It would later re-appear at the National before transferring to the New London Theatre in March 2009 where it remains to this day. The show has proven to be enormously popular with both critics and audiences and as a result it has attracted a great deal attention to the original story, leading to the inevitable Hollywood version that was recently shot in the UK under the direction of Steven Spielberg (and with “Frankenstein” star Benedict Cumberbatch in a lead role).

The Broadway version has been in the planning stages for some time and the show finally opened its doors for previews on Thursday 14th April 2011. It has already sold an abundance of Theatre Tickets, with many performances sold out, according to Baz in the Daily Mail and it looks increasingly likely that the show will be able to match its success in the West End.

“War Horse” tells the story of Albert and his horse Joey in the First World War. Joey belongs to Albert at the beginning of the play and is horrified to learn that he is to be sold off to the cavalry as a War Horse to help in the battle in Europe. So Joey finds himself forced on an adventure as he is caught in enemy fire, fights on both sides and is eventually stranded in no-man’s land. But Albert never forgets about him and despite the dangers he decides to head out to Europe and bring Joey home.

War Horse continues at the New London Theatre and is currently booking until Saturday 18th February 2012.